1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method of managing information files in a communication karaoke apparatus by which an unnecessary information file such as that in which the display period expires can be sorted out among information files containing CM (commercial) to be displayed during an intermission of karaoke performances, and also to a communication karaoke apparatus.
2. Related Art
In a karaoke parlor such as a karaoke box, during an intermission of karaoke music pieces, various kinds of information, especially, CM information including concert information, advertisements for various goods and stores such as bars, and newly released music information are displayed to a customer. Information files storing the information are downloaded from a host apparatus together with music-piece data, and then stored in a storage apparatus such as a hard disk.
It is useless to display concert information after the day of the concert, and newly released music information is not necessary when next newly released music information is downloaded. Unlike karaoke music pieces (music-piece files) which may be requested forever after the release thereof, therefore, each information file has a limit of the useful time period. If the time period expires, the file becomes unnecessary. It is desired that such an unnecessary information file is deleted. In a karaoke apparatus, originally, music-piece files for performing karaoke music pieces are not deleted. Accordingly, there has been no idea to provide a conventional karaoke apparatus with an update function for, for example, deleting a file.
The host apparatus should download music-piece files and information files to an extremely large number of communication karaoke apparatuses (terminal apparatuses), so that all of music-piece files and all of information files are downloaded to any of the communication karaoke apparatuses. The downloaded information files include, however, information files which are not necessary to some communication karaoke apparatuses, such as a CM file which is to be televised only in a limited area. Since a conventional communication karaoke apparatus cannot perform the maintenance of the downloaded information files as described above, a waste storing area for storing a useless information file is disadvantageously required.